The Great Family Ski Road Trip--Part 1: The Overview

Jim, not thinking about road trip logistics for a few precious seconds.

This is Part 1 of the 24-part story about the time my husband and I loaded up the mini van with our 8-month old daughter, our dog, and every single piece of ski or baby-related gear that we own, and set off with my parents (in a separate car), and a set of filmers (also separate car, lucky for them), to caravan all around western North America for a winter, on a set of three road trips to find our top 25 lift-accessed ski runs.

My brother Ralph, one of the amazing shredders we got to visit along the way, flipping in Squaw Valley.

Really, the purpose of the trip was to ski all of our favorite places and see new places, meet up with friends, and chase powder, all while spending time as a family. The result was a hectic and awesome winter documented in a video called Lineage, that you can watch online for free here.

Quick, she’s sleeping. Mom gets to climb up in the front seat and we can listen to a podcast!

Along the way, I kept track of my favorite runs, stories, grocery stores, food and coffee stops, kid-friendly sites, and all sorts of other bits and pieces that I wanted to gather here, all in one place, in case anyone else decides that this type of trip (or any part of it) is a sane idea to take on. As I wrote a little bit more about here, there’s definitely nothing sane about it. But you most definitely should do it anyways!

$20 gas station sled = priceless on a road trip with a little one.